Thank you all for your input on a possible mechanical music wiki.
I believe all of the "issues" raised have straightforward answers,
so I'll share my thoughts:

John Farmer (in MMD 070118) suggested an open attitude and the
ability to handle conflicting solutions or information (John Tuttle
also warns similarly, suggesting that we will never agree on what
is "correct"), and I believe that a wiki can handle that type of
information appropriately.

It is not necessary to "agree" in order to publish information.
It's quite common in wikis to simply annotate articles with additional
information, or request that additional documentation be supplied to
support an "opinion."  (There's no need for a "big brother" attitude.
See Julian Dyer's comments about "access controls" in MMD 070119.)
If the supporting documentation can be provided, the page becomes even
more valuable -- if not, the information may be deprecated as better
information or solutions are found.

John Farmer also suggested that a "moderated" solution may be
necessary.  Although there is certainly some risk involved, I think
the need to easily enter and edit information is very important for
initial success of the project -- therefore I'll opt for a relatively
open system.  (There are, of course, internal safeguards in most wikis
to prevent the obvious vandalism or spam that occurs, and tools to
undo damage that might occur.)  This still requires much "teamwork"
for organizing and maintaining the information, so I hope that several
MMD contributors will volunteer to be "managers" as well.

John Tuttle (in MMD 070118) states that he doesn't "see how
a mechanical music wiki is going to be any better than the MMDigest."
Of course I have _no_ intention of supplanting MMD -- it's a wonderful
resource that I dearly love, and I read every issue thoroughly.
But a well-managed wiki can be an excellent documentation and
organization tool.  (Companies often use wikis instead of traditional
documents simply because no one person (or team) has sufficient
knowledge to produce the documentation that they require.)  I _hope_
that a wiki will coexist with MMD so that the knowledge be additive.
MMD will always be best for discussion, requests, ideas, and real-time
exchange of information.  A wiki excels at organizing and presenting
information as a permanent (but evolving) and "heavily
cross-referenced" (as Bill Burns points out in MMD 070119) resource.

Julian Dyer (in MMD 070119) touts Wikipedia, which is (obviously)
already in place, and has staff to support it.  He is quite correct
in his description of it's strengths, but even Wikipedia has limits
of usefulness.  Just as I would consult specialized printed references
for in-depth information on any specific field, rather than a general
encyclopedia, likewise I believe that mechanical music could (and
should) have in-depth organized reference material online.  Mechanical
music has plenty of breadth to stand on its own.

As you can tell by the tone of this article, I am still convinced
that a mechanical music wiki would be a great resource, and I've done
a couple of sample installations to fully test the software.  The
technical aspects are well within my experience, so all looks good.
If anyone wishes to participate in this "pre-release" setup and
testing, please contact me.

Further comments are welcome and appreciated.

Todd Augsburger
todd@rollerorgans.com